Strengthening Monitoring And Evaluation For Adaptation Planning In The Agriculture Sectors

The importance of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of climate change adaptation has been highlighted at global level, including under the Paris Agreement. Simultaneously, adaptation M&E systems are beginning to emerge at the national level in the context of national planning and budgeting processes. This technical guidance note details how to develop M&E systems for adaptation planning in agriculture sectors.

This Guide for Trainers, based on workshops in nine countries, provides a complete set of materials for use in training sessions on mainstreaming gender in adaptation planning in the agriculture sectors. It is designed for a trainer or team responsible for delivering a training workshop for stakeholders who are involved in adaptation planning and related budgeting processes in agriculture. The guide presents a mix of interactive activities and presentations, to be used in whole or in part, to improve the individual-level skills and behaviours needed to foster gender-responsive agriculture adaptation plans within a broader capacity development process. The emphasis is on adaptation in agriculture, however the materials can be applied to planning for climate change adaptation in other sectors. In addition to this Guide for trainers, there are companion PowerPoint templates that workshop organizers can tailor to their specific context.

The Integrating Agriculture into National Adaptation Plans (NAP-Ag) programme, jointly coordinated by UNDP and FAO, worked with eleven countries to identify and integrate climate adaptation measures into national planning and budgeting processes, in support of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (in particular SDG 2 - Zero Hunger; and SDG 13 - Climate Action) and the Paris Agreement. The evaluation assessed programme relevance and the achievement and sustainability of programme results among other dimensions. The evaluation found that NAP-Ag’s country-driven, multi-sector and multi-level approach allowed for ample engagement of stakeholders, contributed to establish coordination mechanisms and promoted ownership of results. The programme supported the development of institutional capacities; directly influenced the integration of agriculture adaptation options into countries’ plans, practices and policies, and supported countries in accessing climate finance. NAP-Ag also contributed to global climate change adaptation efforts by supporting countries to accomplish the work outlined by UNFCCC. NAP-Ag also influenced the inclusion of gender aspects adaptation options in many countries. FAO should continue promoting the adoption of programme outcomes in countries’ systems and further support countries to mobilize financial support to scale up lessons learned from NAP-Ag. Private sector involvement should be increased to guarantee the implementation of certain climate adaptation options. Strategic stakeholders should be engaged to support gender mainstreaming efforts in agriculture climate adaptation options.

This publication provides a framework and methodology to track progress in adapting agricultural sectors to the impacts of climate change. Measuring progress in adaptation will help decision-makers to target resources most effectively and focus on the areas where meaningful progress can be made. The target audience includes national decision-makers, planners, development partners, research institutions and practitioners working on climate change adaptation.

Climate change is a major challenge for agriculture, a vital source of food, income and employment for most of the world’s poor. Agricultural investments, as a result, need to become more climate sensitive. This is as true for general agricultural investments focused on development outcomes as for projects specifically addressing climate change adaptation and mitigation. This comprehensive knowledge product provides investment practitioners with practical reference material on integrating climate risk considerations at all stages of the investment project cycle, from design to implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Produced by multidisciplinary teams across FAO, the knowledge product is organized as a compendium of modules and thematic sections. It builds on a 2012 FAO guidance document and draws on the most recent information and data sources, including the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. It also showcases FAO-developed tools, tested approaches and selected experiences, and discusses climate financing opportunities for agriculture.

The Addressing agriculture, forestry and fisheries in National Adaptation Plans – Supplementary guidelines (NAP–Ag Guidelines) provide specific guidance for national adaptation planning in the agricultural sectors. They are intended to be used by national planners and decision–makers working on climate change issues in developing countries and authorities and experts within the agriculture sectors who are contributing to climate change adaptation and NAP formulation and implementation.

This publication serves as a guide for countries in exploring how reporting for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicators under FAO custodianship serves the scope of compiling information for the biennial transparency reports (BRT) under the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF). The paper intends to demonstrate the potential integration of adaptation reporting with SDG and Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) global measurable targets and corresponding indicators to advance towards a common understanding of how to track adaptation while informing progress towards the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA). It is aimed primarily at technical authorities and experts working on monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of adaptation in the agriculture sectors and compiling information to report on adaptation at national and international levels. Secondly, it is aimed at policy- and decision-makers that can use M&E evidence to inform adaptation planning, both in the agriculture sectors specifically and as part of broader national adaptation planning, implementation, and budgeting processes.

This evaluation assesses the extent to which FAO adopted an effective, coherent and transformative approach to its work on climate action from 2015 to 2020, by contributing to the achievement of SDG 13 targets and the Paris Agreement. The methodology included portfolio analysis, quantitative content analysis of over 500 documents, participatory stakeholder workshops, desk reviews, interviews with 488 stakeholders, analysis of key FAO products, 3 global surveys, and 13 country case studies. The evaluation’s findings are (i) FAO’s Strategic Framework is aligned with SDG 13 and the Paris Agreement. However, FAO has not expressed a long-term vision on its leadership role in agriculture for climate action; nor does FAO governance yet reflect a clear and strategic focus on its mission on climate action; (ii) The 2017 Climate Change Strategy has effectively supported FAO’s work, but it is not fully integrated into corporate decision-making; (iii) FAO has made relevant contributions by supporting national capacity building for climate action; (iv) FAO’s contributions to SDG 13 and the uptake of products and tools are not systematically monitored and reported; (v) There is little alignment of portfolios between divisions and no systematic approach to trade-offs. Consequently, the root causes of climate change on agriculture are not being addressed in an integrated way; (vi) FAO has strong capacity, but the current business model results in uneven distribution of human and financial resources and in fragmented, short-term projects reach; (vii) FAO contributed to climate adaptation and mitigation by collaborating with Members and other partners, although it has engaged less in innovative partnerships with the private sector, financing institutions and civil society; (viii) FAO has progressed on the inclusion of gender-specific climate action initiatives. The recommendations of the evaluation include developing a corporate narrative on climate change and food systems; formulating a new Climate Change Strategy and action plan; improving the climate change labelling of its project portfolio; mainstreaming climate action into all offices, divisions and levels, and including coordination and guidance to embed procedures in the project cycle, quality assurance and learning mechanisms; adopting a climate action-focused programmatic approach; running an assessment to identify capacity gaps, needs and opportunities and, accordingly, strengthening the capacity of staffing, funding and inter-office communication; enhancing its partnerships and seeking out innovative partnerships; and mainstreaming the core “leave no one behind” by including women, youth, the extreme poor, indigenous peoples and other vulnerable groups.